When an otherwise seemingly healthy patient suffers a stroke or TIA, it’s worth considering a TEE or other tests to check for a patent foramen ovale (PFO). That’s the suggestion of interventional cardiologist William H. Crowder, MD, who has been treating the heart defect using a transcatheter approach for about three years. PFO is a condition in which the foramen ovale, a flap between the heart’s upper chambers that occurs naturally during a child’s development in the womb, fails to close after birth. Normally, this flap seals over during the first year of life. However, for reasons that are not known, the flap remains open in about 1 out of 4 people.